The Defenders Saga series are mostly ed fondly; however, they were far from perfect. While the shows were airing, one was criticized for its lead hero not being the most interesting character of their own show, while others suffered from having weak villains, and there was an overall notion that the majority of the shows could do with fewer episodes to make their pacing better. With Daredevil: Born Again set to serve as a reunion between Daredevil and The Punisher, with more Marvel Netflix heroes possibly appearing on the show, fans who choose to rewatch The Defenders Saga to prepare for the MCU series will come to some harsh realizations.

Related: Daredevil & The Defenders Complete Timeline: What Order To Watch

10 Luke Cage Gets Way Worse After The Death Of Cottonmouth

Long before he was cast to play Blade in the MCU, Mahershala Ali played Cottonmouth in Luke Cage. It seemed like the character was being set up to be the main villain of the series, only for the show to take a shocking turn when Alfre Woodward's Mariah Dillard pushed Cottonmouth out of a window, killing him. Cottonmouth's early death was addressed by Luke Cage's showrunner, who revealed Ali had only signed for seven episodes, which is why Cottonmouth died in Luke Cage season 1's episode 7. While that makes sense, the show never really recovered from Cottonmouth's death, with no villain — including season 2's Bushmaster— matching Ali's magnetic performance.

9 The Punisher Is Better As A ing Character

Jon Bernthal debuted as The Punisher in Daredevil season 2, delivering such an exciting performance that he went on to lead his own series, which was originally not in the plan for The Defender Saga. While The Punisher featured great acting from Bernthal as Frank Castle and his ing cast, as well as electrifying action sequences, the show's story ended up feeling somewhat repetitive. That led to The Punisher being part of the bottom 10 MCU shows on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on how the character stood out in Daredevil season 2 and his series was not as exciting as expected, Frank Castle might be better off as a ing character.

8 Iron Fist's Fight Choreography Is Truly Disappointing

Iron Fist is known in the comics for being a very skilled fighter, having mastered several martial arts on Earth and the mystical K'un-Lun, which is why Netflix's Iron Fist having noticeably bad fight choreography was a huge blow to the series. The blame for why Iron Fist had bad fight scenes has been pointed at the show's fight choreographers at times, but mostly at Danny Rand actor Finn Jones, who revealed that his "schedule didn’t allow [him] to continue the training [to play Iron Fist] as much as [he] really hoped." In the end, Iron Fist was a disappointing affair for Danny Rand fans.

7 The Hand Isn't A Very Compelling Villain Group

The ancient ninja clan known as The Hand either appeared or was mentioned in most of The Defenders Saga shows. The leader of the group's five founders — Alexandra Reid — even served as the main villain of the Netflix Marvel shows' The Defenders crossover series. While it made sense for The Hand to appear in Daredevil and Iron Fist, the group was not the best fit to be the main threat of the universe, as it simply didn't offer enough variety or compelling characters outside the mysterious Madame Gao. As such, the insistence on using The Hand hurt The Defenders Saga.

6 Luke Cage's Ending Cliffhanger Likely Won't Ever Get Resolved

Luke Cage season 2's ending surprisingly saw the hero take over Harlem's Paradise after Mariah's death, occupying the place that once belonged to Cottonmouth. There currently is no confirmation that Mike Colter will return as Luke Cage in Daredevil: Born Again or another project, and even if he does, it seems like Luke Cage possibly becoming a crime boss will never be solved. Daredevil's MCU story is going in a fresh direction, with Foggy Nelson and Karen Page reportedly not in his series, which means the chances of Luke Cage's cliffhanger ending being picked back up are near zero.

5 Iron Fist Was Not The Best Character In His Own Show

While all the other shows in The Defenders Saga clearly had their lead characters as the best in their shows, the same can't be said for Iron Fist. Danny Rand's poor fight scenes and repetitive dialogue contributed to him not being one of the most beloved live-action Marvel heroes, and Iron Fist's best character ended up being Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing. Henwick's character showed personality in spades, having better fight scenes than Iron Fist, and looking effortlessly cool while dispatching bad guys. Colleen even ended up becoming the new Iron Fist.

4 Daredevil Season 2 Feels Uneven

Every season of Daredevil is good; however, season 2 of the Charlie Cox series ends up at the bottom of the barrel. That is due to Daredevil season 2 feeling uneven, as the season's first half covers The Punisher's arc before it changes halfway to focus on Matt Murdock's relationship with past flame Elektra. While Elektra herself is a compelling character, her arc brings along a less-than-enthralling story with The Hand, which is a step down from Daredevil season 2's electrifying start with Bernthal's debut as The Punisher.

3 Jessica Jones Never Reached The Heights Of Season 1 Again

A superhero project is only really as good as its villain, and Jessica Jones knows that all too well. After a spectacular debut season that saw Krysten Ritter's hero reclaim control of her life by taking out David Tennant's Killgrave, who preyed on her and others with his mind control powers. Jessica Jones season 1 featured a gripping battle between a victim taking the fight to the villain that had wronged her, perfectly setting up Jessica Jones' character and motivations. Sadly, the show would never reach those heights again, with multiple subpar villains, but at least Ritter kept Jessica compelling throughout the series' three seasons.

2 The Defenders Was An Underwhelming Crossover

After 2012's The Avengers managed to unite the MCU's heroes to great success, it came the time for 2017's The Defenders limited series to bring together the Netflix Marvel heroes. While it was exciting to see Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist interact, the actual reunion between the characters arrived only at the end of episode 3, losing precious time as The Defenders only had 8 episodes compared to 13 for the solo shows. Adding to the disappointment was the fact that the series' villain was Sigourney Weaver's Alexandra Reid — the aforementioned leader of The Hand.

1 Iron Fist Was Canceled When It Was Finally Getting Good

A lot of the things that didn't work for Iron Fist's debut season — including Danny's bad fight scenes — were corrected for season 2. With all The Defenders Saga's series getting canceled, Iron Fist itself ended just when it was finally getting good. Iron Fist season 2's ending promised an exciting third season that would have seen Colleen Wing be the new Iron Fist, while Danny and Ward Meachum traveled through Asia to find information about the legacy of the Iron Fist and rediscover themselves. As it stands, The Defenders Saga ended before that could come to .